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Every few weeks I come across the same infographic – the one that shows the difference between successful and unsuccessful people:

I don’t know if it’s because the graphic is baselessly false – or precisely because it’s true – but I hate it. It makes me pay little attention to the things I’m doing right, and feel like shit for the things I’m so obviously doing wrong.

Give Credit Where Credit’s Due

To be fair, I think much of what bugs me about this graphic is how it fits with my own self-criticism:

I drink a lot

I watch TV every day

I don’t know what I want to be

Say I keep a journal (this blog) but I don’t

I fly by the seat of my pants…and more.

But Let’s be Real

This is a highly over simplified graphic. Yes I fit many of the criteria for an unsuccessful person, but at the same time:

I do eventually journal (this post a case in point)

What I watch on TV is news or news related

When I do drink (current post a case in point) I’m almost always reading articles or responding to emails

I fly by the seat of my pants because I work for a high growth tech firm

I do keep a to-do list…but I’m used to having only a handful checked off by the end of the day (workday or weekend, work or family)

What’s the Lesson (Hint: Booze)

Most of this categorization is subjective bullshit, in my humble opinion, but one thing stands out from the rest.

I’m an alcoholic, and I still can’t admit it.

From my “let’s be real” comments, I think almost anyone – successful too! – can relate to 4/5 of my situation. Among successful people I know, almost all have to fly by the seat of their pants to a degree, and they all leave work with tasks undone.

What they don’t do is drink…or at least not like I do. Consider that, on an average work day, I do at least 2-3 of the following:

Fighting a daily hangover to get to work some time between 9:30 and 11:00 each day

If I stretch my work arrival to noon, trying to get 2-3 drinks in me to get my workday started

If not, taking the first opportunity to get 3-5 drinks in me so I can “work at 100%”

Take at least one break in the afternoon to “go for a walk” when in fact I’m back at the bar keeping my buzz on

End up getting home to my family anywhere from 8:00 to 11:30 because I had to catch up on what I didn’t do for the day

All told, I estimate I spend 3-5 hours (don’t ask how much money I spend) at a bar of some kind every day of the week. That’s:

3-5 hours a day

21-35 hours a week

82-150 hours a month

If that’s not enough reason to give up drinking, I don’t know what is. If that’s not enough, I’ve given up alcohol for months and years at a time.

All which begs the question…what will it finally take for me to give upa habit I know is so self-destructive?

I’ve pulled myself out of this before; I just can’t find the way out now. Life’s too busy – or just busy enough a to do it.